


Auld Lang Syne

by ReferenceZero



Series: Auld Lang Syne [1]
Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: Auld Lang Syne, Christmas, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Past Relationship(s), Relationship Discussions, Relationship Study, don't hate me, starco
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2019-11-28
Packaged: 2021-02-18 07:41:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21590914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReferenceZero/pseuds/ReferenceZero
Summary: It's Christumpmas Eve, and Marco needs to run to the store to grab some last minute items for a Christumpmas Dinner. Surprisingly, Marco finds more than just frozen corn in the freezer aisle.
Relationships: Star Butterfly/Marco Diaz
Series: Auld Lang Syne [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1616296
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	Auld Lang Syne

**Author's Note:**

> Christmas Music is one of my favorite types of music (from Black Friday - Christmas Eve), and I'm one of those weird few that enjoys the bitter-sweet Christmas songs every so often. One of my favorite is "Same Old Lang Syne" by Dan Fogelberg, and this fan-fic is unashamedly based on the lyrics from this song. If you know the words, you'll find clear references to this song. Since the holiday season is coming up, I wanted to write one of those heart-string-pully-emotionally-complicated pieces like "Same Old Lang Syne" or "Christmas Shoes". There is also a lot of "The Family Man" type of ideas that have been borrowed as well. If you don't like those songs or that movie, you may not like this work tbh.
> 
> *Slight-Spoiler*: This is an AU where years after the events of Cleave, Star and Marco did the unthinkable and actually broke up. They haven't seen or contacted each other in years--Making the eventual reunion very memorable and complicated.

The puttering hum of the motorcycle rumbled through the still night as Marco pulled into the parking lot, a single thin line tracing his zig-zagging path through the lightly snow-covered pavement. The lot was nearly empty, so he snagged a spot right near the front, thinking to himself how fortunate it was that it was so close to the door—far less of a walk in the cold. Not that he minded the cold at all—he still had vague memories of his Neverzone adventures and remembered how cold the Wraith’s Castle was. Compared to that this was a spring day. The incessant din of the idling motorcycle ceased as he clicked off the ignition and removed the key, returning the parking lot to its original serene nocturnal silence. Marco dismounted and took off his crimson motorcycle helmet, shaking off the helmet sweat that always came when wearing the thing as he kicked out the kickstand. He preferred to go helmet-less, to feel the wind in his hair and the drowning noise that blocked all of his thoughts and let him focus solely on what he was doing in the moment; but given the weather and the road conditions, one couldn’t be _too_ careful, especially with the extra police presence that came with this time of year. Marco stowed the helmet in his seat-compartment and took a quick look up at the sky. Light snow had been falling ever since he got on the road, and it continued to softly float down from the opaque black void above him. The lights from the grocery store front windows and the few parking lot light poles casted the only significant illumination into the parking lot, which casted long shadows across the still and nearly empty lot. Marco stood there for a brief moment, hands in pockets, staring at the simplistic beauty of the falling snow against the light from the parking lot light poles. He wished Nachos was here to see this—he missed not having her around and being able to fly wherever he wanted, but Nachos never did well in the cold, mainly due to the memory of being stuck in the Wraith’s Castle for so long rather than having to do with her naturally cold-blooded engine-driven core. So she was back at the garage, staying warm and cozy under her blanket while Marco had grabbed the back-up Harley to make this last minute grocery run.

Marco walked towards the store, his fur-lined leather collar pulled up against his neck, the leather jacket zipped up tight, and his ice-cold hands still trying to warm up in the apparently ineffective wool-lined leather gloves he had just bought. Marco walked through the front door of the small outlet grocery store, a little * _chime_ * from the sliding doors notifying the store that he had entered. He looked up at the little CC camera and TV that was pointing right at him as he walked in and noticed that his hair had turned about half white from his small amount of time snow-gazing. He took his hands out of his gloves, stuffed them in his jacket pocket, and quickly brushed the snow off his head while using the TV to quickly readjust his hair to make sure it still looked somewhat neat and presentable.

“…this is a Local Update to your evening weather forecast! Light snow is currently falling all over the local area, raising everyone’s hopes for a White Christumpmas tomorrow! However, slightly warmer winds from the South-West are threatening to turn tonight’s snow into sleet and icy rain—be careful out there folks as…” Marco overheard from the TV that one of the remaining cashiers had set up on a counter near the one open checkout register, as he started to move briskly away from the cold front door and into the much warmer store.

“Thank goodness this store is still open so late on Christumpmas Eve…” muttered Marco to himself as he started unzipping his jacket and rummaging inside it, pulling out his phone and scrolling through for his shopping list. “just gotta grab these few remaining ingredients and then I can get back home and—”

The far periphery of his eye grabbed onto something, freezing Marco’s whole body in a terrifying instant, as if every nerve and muscle in his body immediately panicked and froze completely still, as if to avoid some terrible danger. His hand that was holding his phone near his face began to tremble ever so slightly, his eyes growing increasingly wide and his mouth subconsciously getting wider and more ajar. The color rushed from his face, his mind as frozen and panicked as his body, his intense gaze lasered-focused on the source of such sudden and sheer emotion.

Only one thought ran through his mind, reverberating throughout his entire soul… “ _Wait a second… is that…”_

He wasn’t entirely sure what he saw, but the first thought that had flown through his mind was so powerful and terrifying that it overloaded every single aspect of his being. As he had pulled out his phone to take a look at his grocery list, his eye had caught the smallest glimpse of someone about 4 aisles away in a green puffy snow jacket, with what looked like a cartoon embroidered near the bottom of the jacket. His eye had immediately locked on to that image and quickly started to make it’s way up to catch the face of who ever it was, but the individual had turned the corner into one of the freezer sections before he got to see who it was. But there was long blonde hair under a bright red beanie, and Marco caught the faintest glimpse of what looked like ivory skin as the individual walked down the freezer aisle.

A million different emotions and thoughts flew through Marco’s mind simultaneously, the fear of him being right weighing down on him just as much as the joy and excitement that he actually _might_ be _right_ about his initial assessment. Part of Marco’s mind screamed and begged him to just turn around and get as far away as possible from this place, yet his heart began to beat faster and swell, his soul scratching at his heart with the increasingly burning curiosity of “ _could it be? Could it really be?!?”_

Marco slowly exhaled as he put his phone back in his jacket pocket—himself not realizing that he had been holding his breath in his petrified state. He breathed slowly, flexing his hands and rolling his shoulders to shake off the icy fear that had gripped them, and slowly started to walk towards the aisle that the individual had turned down. _“I just have to see”_ he kept repeating to himself, “ _I just need to know if that’s really…”_

As his eye stealthily glimpsed around the corner, his body still hiding behind the front of the aisle, he saw the individual, a woman, in full clarity now. Standing halfway down the aisle looking at something in the freezer shelves, he could see that the jacket was lime green and slightly poofy with a bright blue and white cartoonish narwhal sewn onto the bottom corner of the jacket. The boots were a light grey fuzzy material with what looked like an embroidered brown stump onto the sides. There was a small yellow purse in the shape of a five-point star, pink fuzzy mittens hanging out of the pocket of the jacket, and the blonde hair and red beanie were sending off rapid-fire signals throughout his whole brain. But when Marco looked at the face, he saw impossibly deep, clear, focused baby blue eyes that gleamed even from this distance.

“ _…_ Star…” he whispered so softly that it might have been just in his mind.

Heat coursed throughout his entire body, his palms sweaty, his mouth dry, his arms numb. Again, the paralyzing fright kept him locked in place peaking around the corner of the aisle, everything suddenly becoming hot and heavy. The thought to run and flee sprinted once more across his mind and he felt a leg twitch in response, but his hand grabbed firm onto the shelf that was concealing him as he maintained unbroken eye-contact with Star. She was looking through the aisle for something, her face focused but calm, carrying a handbasket with some groceries in it. She paused and stared at something for a few moments before opening the freezer door and continued to stare some more, a finger on her lips as she thought in silence.

Marco chuckled silently to himself at the sight. _“That’s the same old Star—never did care about the energy efficiency of keeping the store freezers shut if you’re still deciding.”_ The sudden intense heat from before was beginning to cool down into a warm gooey sensation that was spreading all over his body. He couldn’t stop the smile that was growing ever larger and goofier on his face from around his hiding corner. He hadn’t felt like this in years.

 _“If you don’t do this now, you’ll never forgive yourself”_ Marco heard his heart proclaim to his mind.

With a determined nod and a sense of cool confidence spreading through his head, he slowly turned the corner and started to quietly make his way over to Star. She was reaching deep into the freezer shelves, completely focused on whatever she was trying to do, and thankfully completely oblivious to anyone who might be walking down the aisle. As Marco somewhat stealthily snuck up towards Star, he could hear her mutter aloud to herself:

“…I just _know_ they’ve got that holiday corn blend hidden back here somewhere… Lousy Kyle…always hiding the good stuff from me!...You buy out their whole cream corn stock _one_ measly time and…”

Marco was right behind her at this point, Star still completely oblivious to anything around her as half of her body was in the freezer moving bags of frozen corn around, apparently looking for that holiday corn blend. The whole sight brought back a wave of memories and emotions, and Marco had to take a silent deep breath as he reached out with one hand and tapped her shoulder.

Star froze for a split second and then somewhat deftly hollered back from deep within the freezer, “Yeah, yeah, I’m getting out, I’m getting out!” She growled as she started to wiggle herself out of the shelves, “You’ve guys won this time, with your cheap tricks and dirty li…”

“Hey.”

She spun around expecting to see a store clerk, not a random stranger in a dark brown leather jacket. Wiping away some freezer frost that had gotten stuck on her beanie and eyebrows, she quickly scanned the person who had embarrassingly caught her halfway in the freezer. She was also trying to understand the voice and tone of whoever this person was. It was soft, tender, and felt almost emotionally charged, and it was that last aspect that caught her the most off-guard.

“Hi…” she responded in a cautious tone, her eyes scanning the man in front of her. Her body remained slightly tensed, her face taut and wary until her eyes met his.

Suddenly her eyes and mouth flew open wide, her hands immediately covering her mouth, and she took a subconscious step back as the realization hit her like a warnicorn stampede. Their wavering eyes locked for a silent breath, invisible sparks emanating from their gaze. Then without any hesitation, a rocket of blonde hair launched at an unprepared Marco, who with hands in pockets was not steady enough to take on the full force of the blonde body slam. The sound emanating from the blonde projectile sounded like the whining of an accelerating jet engine, the pitch and sound exponentially getting higher and louder. Beanie and a large assortment of miscellaneous purse items haphazardly flew in the air as both Star and Marco crashed onto the floor of the aisle with a loud _thump_ that was immediately drown out from the continuing increasing high pitch squealing that was emanating from Star.

“Oof!” groaned Marco, sprawled against the floor as he reached back to rub the back of his head that had slightly bounced during the impact. “Staaaaaaaaaarrrr, you can’t just tackle people without warn—upguh!”

But his entire sentence was unheard by Star’s squealing, and cut short as her arms instantly wrapped around his neck and proceeded to bear hug him with all the strength that her Mewman frame possessed.

“MMMAAAAARRRRCCCCOOOOO!!!!! MARCO MARCO MARCO!!! OH MY GOSH I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!!! IT’S REALLY YOU!!! MARCO!! THANK CORN, I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU’RE HERE! MAR-CO! MAR-CO!”

“GAH! Sta—ar! Can’t! Breathe! GACK!” Marco sputtered in vain as his hands flailed against the vicelike grip against his neck and the uninterrupted joyful screaming in his ear. Suddenly both the screaming and the gripping ceased as Star ripped herself up out of her embrace and looked straight down at Marco.

“Ohmygosh Marco! Are you ok?” Star asked, still basically screaming as Marco coughed and rubbed his neck, looking up at Star who was practically sitting right on top of him.

“Yeah” he coughed, “Yeah, I’m ok. Actually, I’m waaay better than ok!” he smiled in an increasingly big goofy grin.

“Um, excuse me, but are you two alright?” came a somewhat timid call from the bottom of the aisle. Both Star and Marco looked up to see a shaggy haired teenage monster in a red and white stripped grocery store uniform looking both confused and concerned at the screaming mess of two adult patrons on the floor of the freezer aisle.

“KYLE! LOOK! IT’S MARCO!!!” yelled a frenzied glowing Star, constantly pointing at Marco’s face with both hands.

Marco arched his head back on the floor and gave the grocer a slight wave, “Hey man, what’s up?”

“SEE! Look at his cute lil’ mole!” Star exclaimed, yanking Marco’s jacket collar with one hand and deftly pointing at the mole with the other while maintaining an otherwise crazed expression on her face.

“Star! Cut it out!” laughed Marco as he pushed against Star’s face with one hand, freeing himself from her grip as they both started laughing uncontrollably.

“Umm… Okay… well, if y’all need me, I’ll just be back…at my… register…” said Kyle as he slowly slunk away from the two adults lying in a laughing gaggle on the floor.

“Marco…Marco…” Star asked in-between laughs, wiping her eyes that were already a bit watery from all the laughing as she sat up on the floor, “tell me… is it really you? Honest to Cornness you?!?”

“Yeah Star, it’s really me as long as it’s really you” Marco replied as he brushed off a tear starting to form in his own eye as he faced Star’s hopeful expression.

“Oh Marco… it really is me!” yelped Star as she grabbed Marco around the shoulders in another strong embrace. “I can’t believe you’re here after all this time!” she choked as she buried her head into his strong shoulder and neck.

“Me too Star” Marco quietly replied as he pulled Star into his own strong embrace, tucking his own head into her mass of strawberry-scented blonde hair. “Me too…”

Tears that they had been fighting to hold back suddenly broke free from both sides and they tightly held each other in complete silence. Both of them could feel the other softly and silently heaving as tears flowed freely and the embrace tighten. Compared to the tumultuous cacophony that had started their meeting, the silence was deafening. Not even the hum of the freezers or _“Jingle Bell Rock”_ quietly playing over the interspeaker couldn’t break the soft sounds of their breathing and silent crying. 

They remained frozen in their embrace, oblivious to time and space, the force of their silent hug speaking for them. Slowly, their heavings quieted into steady breathing, and the tears dried leaving only the occasional sniffle to break the silent strength of the moment. Still holding on to each other as tightly as they had before, as if afraid the other would magically disappear if they let go, Star gave Marco two tiny pats on the back and Marco slowly started to release his grip and pull himself away from their embrace. 

Once they were arms-length apart, Marco dared to look up from his cast-down gaze at Star’s face, his arms though never leaving her shoulders. Star’s blonde hair was all matted and fraying everywhere, her jacket shoulder covered in Marco’s tears and snot, and her face smeared in tear stains and some mascara smudges. But it was her eyes that caught Marco the most off-guard—her deep baby-blue eyes glistened and reverberated, a portal into her very soul that Marco had nearly forgotten about after all these years. Those eyes were still full of so much love, hope, joy, and happiness—it made Marco want to just hug her all over again and never let go. 

“Star…” Marco sniffled, “It’s really good to see you again.”

“Marco, it’s so good to see you too. But, uh… looks like I got your jacket all slobbery snotty… Sorry ‘bout that” Star nervously chuckled, gesturing to Marco’s shoulder that was wet with tears and goop.

“Don’t be—I think I did worse damage to yours” he chuckled.

Star looked down at her own shoulder and slightly jumped at the sight. “Aw ewwww, gross Marco!” she laughed as she brushed some stray strands that were lying in the mess, “you always were a snot monster!”

“Snot monster?!” Marco feigned hurt with a hand over his heart, “Well I recall that you were quite the slobber demon yourself—how many of my good t-shirts did you ruin?” he retorted with a big goofy smile on his face.

Star playfully slapped him on the arm. “ _I_ didn’t ruin a single shirt— _you_ ruined yours because you would only wash when I reminded you to do it” she laughed.

Marco ruefully shook his head and laughed as well, throwing his hands up in mock surrender, “Alright, alright, you got me there!”

As the latest round of laughter subsided, Marco started to look around him. “Well, we’ve made a bit of a mess in another store again Star” he reflected as he saw the scattered contents of Star’s purse on the ground, some knocked over bottles and bags from the shelf behind them, and Star’s slightly overturned grocery basket that must’ve been knocked over somehow amidst their whirlwind reunion. “Reminds me of all of our Quest Buy adventures back in the day”

“Remember Squire-Fest?!” Star chimed as she began picking up her scattered items on the floor, a notebook, her wallet, her cellphone, “I don’t think we ever made as big of a mess as we did then! Didn’t we crash an entire aisle filled with armor wax?”

“I don’t remember that, all I remember was being stuck under a dragon’s butt for a while” Marco mused as he helped her pick up as well, her frozen bags of Mewni Fiesta Corn blend, some cranberry sauce, a… “Wait, Star? Is this _Salted Butter_ flavored chap-stick?!”

Star looked up and nodded, stretching her hand out towards Marco as he placed it in her hands. “Oh yeah, it’s my new favorite flavor—they just released this a few years ago and it reminds me so much of Mewni street corn! I know you can still get street corn here, but they’ve never quite gotten it right like back in the old days.”

“You know what, you’re right! I have noticed a significant decrease in the quality of my Mewni corn over the past few years—it just feels… off, ya know? I can’t describe it either, but it hasn’t been the same in years” Marco stated as he helped picked up the last remaining items still scattered on the floor. He looked up to see Star putting something red and pointy into her purse, which always seemed to be too small to fit the irrational amount of contents stuffed inside. “Hey, do you still have your horns headband?” he asked pointing at her purse.

Star smiled faintly as she continued to stuff them into her purse. “Yep! Still rock them like I did back in the day—rebel princess who makes her own rules and all that” she chuckled as Marco failed to stifle a snicker that brought a deeper smile to her face. “Just don’t like wearing them with the beanies—they just don’t stay together very well. One’s always falling off or getting stuck in the other.”

Marco stood up and brushed off his pants and rear and gave himself a quick stretch. “Well, I guess that’s why I always went hatless. Hoodies never let you down in the hair-care department” he stated, only to see Star roll her eyes and go back to stuffing her purse. “You know, cause I never got hat hair…unless it was wet in which case I would get it… or if I wore helmets…uh…buzz cuts helped…not…have hat hair… Yeah…” he nervously stumbled as his voice got quieter and quieter with Star apparently now focused solely on wiping off her mascara stains and fixing her face.

Quickly he grabbed the grocery basket off the ground and hurriedly asked, “So Star did you have any more shopping to do? Is this it?” He could feel sweat starting to form on the back of his neck and near the top of his hairline, and his palms were getting moist…

Star, who was halfway on her feet, startled at the suddenness of the question. “Uh, yeah! That’s actually everything I needed here, actually. Just gonna go…and checkout now” she hesitantly stated, pointing a thumb behind her towards the checkout stand. “Uh, did _you_ have any more shopping that you needed to do?”

“Uh, yeah, I mean, I did but not anymore, it wasn’t that important” Marco replied, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’d honestly rather catch up with you a bit more… if that’s ok” he sheepishly replied, adverting his gaze for half a second before bringing them back to Star’s.

Star softly smiled and motioned to Marco with a large arm wave. “Well, let’s go then! We can catch up before all my frozens melt!” she cheerfully replied as she slowly started walking out of the aisle, with Marco in tow holding her grocery basket in his hand.

“Sooooo…buddy…” Marco started, looking everywhere but at Star, still rubbing his neck, “do you, uh, come shopping here often?”

“Uh, yeah…fairly often I guess…” Star slowly replied as well, dragging her feet along with Marco’s. “This is the only place with good frozen Mewni corn… I needed some extra for tomorrow’s dinner.”

“Yeah… I guess it’s not Christumpmas without corn” Marco nodded, “But, uh, I’ve never seen this brand before… _D &L Corn-Op?_ Is this a local thing?”

“Oh yeah!” Star perked at the question. “You’ve been gone and totally missed that. Yeah, about 5 years ago or so Ludo and his brother Dennis decided to open up a corn-farm at his castle cause Ludo couldn’t stand not having good quality Mewni corn around, and I’d have to agree with him cause it was pretty bad here for a while—did you know that for a couple of years we couldn’t even _get_ Mewni corn in this area?! Unbelievable, right? So yeah they started a farm and I guess Dennis is the manager and Ludo likes working in the field and they make the best Corn I’ve found around here” Star explained without hardly a pause for breath.

“Woah, that’s surprising! I would’ve never thought of Ludo as a farmer!” Marco said rounding the corner into the checkout aisle. “So they’re just like, a small local supplier?”

“Yeah, they don’t get much further outside of the greater EcMon area—they’re still just too small to make that big of a difference.”

“Still that’s good for them I guess” Marco said putting the grocery items on the checkout conveyor belt. “At least he’s not trying to terrorize you anymore.”

“Yeah you’d think that but no” Star chuckled, leaning on the side of the checkout aisle, “he still shows up unannounced all the time at the house and if Dennis isn’t around he’ll stay for hours trying to get me to play ‘ _Sher-ades’_ with him or knocking stuff over with his silly corn-cob hat he wears now with his otherwise adorable farming overalls. I swear he got those from Build-a-Bear or something. Anyway, the only reason I don’t kick him out as soon as I see him is cause he always brings fresh corn from the farm, which is gone in like, 5 minutes after he leaves, so I have to do the next best thing and buy the stuff they sell at the store, and they’re always running out of what I need here.”

“no normal person buys 200 cans of corn all at once” Kyle muttered to himself as he scanned the items off the belt.

Star turned her head slightly to give him a sharp stern eyeful. “Hey bub, if you won’t let me bulk order that’s your own dang fault, but don’t hate on the corn queen.”

“So wait, you’re constantly coming here to get frozen corn?” Marco asked incredulously. Star smiled and nodded, while Kyle shook his head ruefully. “Why don’t you just order directly from Ludo?”

“Cause Ludo won’t let me pay and the last time I tried to do it secretly with Dennis there was this whole fit and Ludo made me take the money back and he didn’t stop talking about it for almost a year” Star sighed, shaking her head, “It’s easier to just make the stops to the few stores that have it and buy what I need.”

“which apparently is our entire stock” muttered Kyle again under his breath. “Total is $45.69” Star handed a credit card over her shoulder as she continued to talk with Marco unabated.

“So… you keep in touch with anyone else other than Ludo?” Marco asked, walking behind Star towards the bagged groceries.

“Oh yeah, totally” Star said absentmindedly as she signed the receipt. “All the old gang. Was talking with Janna just yesterday about her work problems, you know, the _recent_ ones—”

“I haven’t talked or heard anything about Janna in a long time” Marco interrupted.

Star froze for a moment, pen in hand motionless with the half-finished star-shape over the ‘t’ and ‘a’ on the receipt. “Oh… well, you’ve been following Jackie still, right?” she continued.

“Nope. No clue” Marco said grabbing the bags.

Star handed over the pen and looked at Marco, confusion and concern growing on her face with each subsequent question.

“Pony Head?”

“Zilch”

“Meteroa?”

“Nuh-uh”

“Alfonzo and Ferguson?”

“Bzzzzt”

“Eclipsa?”

“Na-da”

“Sensei?”

“Wait, he’s still alive!?”

“Well how about—”

“Star.” Marco interrupted, both hands raised with filled bags as he looked directly at her. “I haven’t talked to or heard about anyone from back here in _years_ …” he said slowly, a bit of sadness hinted in his voice.

“Corn Almighty, you really have been gone for a long time…” Star whispered into her hands as she looked worryingly at Marco who simply gave a small shrug.

“Yeah…” Marco slowly answered, head down for a moment before looking back at the slightly quivering bright blue eyes intently staring at him. “Guess we should get these back to your car before the corn thaws, huh?” he shrugged towards the exit with a sad half-smile on his lips.

“Uh-huh… yeah… totally totally totally…” Star answered distractedly, sidestepping Marco and already walking towards the door with a slight quickness in her step. Marco quickly jogged next to her before any more distance was gained between them. Her eyes were still wide and Marco could see a slight tremor rolling through her shoulders and arms. Marco bit his lip, quickly eyeing the distance between them and the near empty parking lot beyond the store doors.

“Ooh!” Marco shuddered as they walked out the store, snow continuing to softly fall around them. “Sure is cold out here after being inside there, huh?”

“Yeah, totally totally totally” Star replied again distractedly, rubbing her arms, apparently oblivious to the snow falling around her. Marco kept quiet and followed Star to a compact SUV parked in the closest parking spot to the door, opposite of his bike. It was silver with dirt and grime from the road snow all over the sides of the car, the windshield being completely covered in a light layer of snow.

“Uh, hey! Looked like it snowed quite a bit while we were in there” Marco tentatively observed.

“Uh-huh… yeah… totally totally totally…” came Star’s repeated reply as she side-bumped the bumper of the car and the trunk door started opening slowly. Her back towards Marco, she was still rubbing her arms and staring out into the distance, past the edge of the parking lot and past the street beyond, a solitary yellow stoplight flashing. Marco silently and slowly put the groceries in the back and pushed a side button as the trunk door slowly started to close. Marco sighed and put his hands in his pockets before shrugging sadly and saying, “Well Star… it’s been great catching up with ya, but I’m just gonna g—”

“Marco do you want to grab a drink with me?” Star suddenly whirled around and asked, her eyes steely and assured, the shaking having completely vanished.

“I, uh, gah…uh…yes…please” Marco stammered, the calm strength of Star’s voice completely catching him off-guard, not to mention her steely gaze that he had not seen in a long time.

“Well, get out your phone and help me find a bar or something that’s open right now and close by. I don’t have too much time left tonight” Star ordered as she pulled out her own phone and started madly typing on it. Marco obliged and started searching on his phone as well.

“Hmmmm… Star, it’s looking like there’s nothing open that’s close to us. Everything’s closed for the holiday. There’s what seems to be a dragon-cycle bar open, but that’s like, 30 minutes away from here” Marco mused.

Star had slowed down her typing dramatically and was also scrolling through her phone, her forehead getting progressively scrunched as she scrolled. “Dang it, you’re right Marco…nothing seems to be open close by to us…” She typed on her phone some more, then looked up and pointed towards the corner of the parking lot. “What about there? They still seem to be open”

Marco turned around to look at where Star was pointing and saw the red glowing neon sign that simply proclaimed “Liquor”. The small corner store of the adjoining strip-mall had their lights on and a fainter blue neon “open” sign still hung in the window. Marco shrugged, “Yeah, if it’s open that’s fine by me. Wouldn’t mind getting something light anyway” as both of them began the silent short walk over to the store.

Marco held open the door for Star who nodded appreciatively as she walked into the liquor store. The owner, a big burly man with what looked like a thick brown bear coat eyed both of them as they entered and began quickly looking around. “What did you have in mind Marco?” Star asked heading over to the fridge section and scanning the shelves. “They got some holiday ales, peppermint seltzer, gingerbread beer, spiked eggnog…”

Marco peeked over her shoulder. “Nyah, I’m thinking something lighter for tonight, don’t wanna drive not sober on roads like tonight’s—oh hey! How about some ol’ _Mewbrau_? Looks like they have a Christumpmas blend!”

“Sounds great to me!” Star replied cheerfully as Marco grabbed a six-pack and walked over to the cash register.

The owner scanned the barcode. “Ya know, I normally close ‘er ne’r 20 minutes ago, fer the holidays and such” he stated offhandedly.

“Oh! Well… I’m glad you were still open” Marco cautiously replied.

“Yah, nyne o’clock sharp fer Christumpmas Eve, gotta respect that ‘er Stump, may it fer’ever live in peese ‘n all that” he casually gruffed, taking Marco’s card and swiping it in the cash register. “I was gonna ‘ead home I was, and somethyng in me heart said to wait feh one mur customur. Now t’was a strange thought me tell ya, but I always listen to me heart, never failed me yet. Was expecting a straight sad bum I was, but ya wandered up instead, hmm? None of ya are bums I tell ya what, but tis a sad batch of youngin’s I see here on this Christstumpmas Eve, may ‘is roots never enter yeh home” he continued as he gave a slightly slacked-jawed Marco a pen to sign the receipt.

“Yer both be needing this here brew tonight, that I can see clearly. Good choice _Mewbrau_ —that Mewni c’rn—strikes fire in teh soul, opens up teh heart, frees teh mind it does. Both of ya enjoy it now—‘ave a blest Christumpmas ya two, and may honur fer’ever be thynes Grate Stump” he finished as he handed Marco the six-pack and a confused and slightly concern Star and Marco quietly thanked the man and quickly exited the store.

They only had gotten about halfway to the car before they both started laughing uncontrollably. “Aw man, what a character!” Marco laughed, wiping a tear from his eye, “I couldn’t tell if he was supposed to be like an old sailor or what!”

“I know right?!” Star laughed, “and I can’t believe he still praises the Stump—that thing has been gone for a _looong_ time.”

“Hehe, yeah, and the last time I met the Stump wasn’t the most fun either, so I’m glad it’s now just folklore” Marco chuckled.

“Hey now! That Stump Day wasn’t _all_ bad…” Star interjected as she opened her car door and hopped in.

“Yeah, the cake and dancing sure made up for almost getting killed by a magical stump deity” Marco wryly smiled as he hopped into the passenger seat of the car.

Star turned on the car and threw the wipers on, knocking off the inch or so of snow off the windshield, giving them a completely unrestricted view of the essentially vacant parking lot. The snow had continued unabated throughout the evening, the tall parking lot light poles casting a soft yellow glow across the parking lot and into Star’s car. The reflective shadows of the softly falling snow patterned against the cascading faint lights and shadows that layered Star’s and Marco’s faces.

“Good idea throwing on the heater Star” Marco said placing the 6 pack in-between them on the side-arm bar. “Never a good idea to drink cold beer on a cold night” he noted freeing one from its plastic ring.

“Yeah, I love winter and the snow and the holidays, but I hate cold feet, so outside of a fire and a warm blanket with some hot coco, this is the next best thing” Star said grabbing one herself and opening the can with a loud crack and hiss.

Marco opened his own and started to take a sip before his arm was gently swatted by Star who chided “Maaarrccoo! It’s Mewman tradition to propose a toast before every newly opened can of beer! Don’t tell me you’ve forgot about that too!”

Marco sheepishly smiled, “No, no, just was a bit excited that’s all… So, you got any good toasts?”

Star thought for a moment, finger on her lip, before turning smiling to Marco, “How about we both come up with one and see which one is better?”

“You’re on!” Marco grinned, “Loser has to say something about themselves that the other person doesn’t know yet”.

“Deal!” Star’s eyes glimmered as they both sat in silence for a moment thinking of what to say.

“You’ve got one yet?” Star asked after a few moments.

“Yep” replied Marco, “Ready when you are!”

“Alright so you’re going first then, right? Let’s hear it”

“Wait what? And give you extra time to try and out-toast me? Not gonna happen” Marco teasingly laughed.

Star chuckled, “All right then, how bout a contest to decide who goes first—rock paper scissors?” she proposed.

“Alright deal, but the first loser has to go, none of this best 2 out of 3 or best of 37, like that one time” Marco wryly grinned.

“Oh trust me Diaz, one chance is all I’m going to need” Star rebutted, hand stretched out in a fist, a tight smile on her face.

“Ok then, on ‘shoot’” Marco clarified.

“ROCK PAPER SCISSORS SHOOT!” they both chanted and threw their signs in the middle.

“Ha ha! Rock crushes scissors, looks like you’re first Star” Marco goofily grinned.

Star looked blankly at her own hand scissors, then over to Marco’s fist, then back at her own hand, the look of both shock and disappointment wallowing on her face. With a bemused sigh, she flicked her hair over her shoulder, lifted up her beer and confidently declared, “To the joy, peace, and spirit of Christumpmas: ‘may teh Stump fer’ever live in peese ‘n ‘is roots never enter yeh home!”

Marco chuckled and raised his own beer and retorted **“** To our health, happiness, and success—may nothing thwart our progress and current endeavors”.

Drinks clinked as both Marco and Star took a long sip from their cans. “Pretty sure you won that one Star. That was smart to steal the Stump guy’s lines like that!” Marco chuckled, fumbling with his can. The only response from Star was the sound of multiple deep gulps as she chugged the whole can in one shot, finished with a loud satisfied sigh, crushed the can in her hand before nonchalantly tossing it behind her head into the backseat of the car, and reaching over to grab another can.

Marco simply stared at her, an eyebrow cocked high on his forehead. Star looked up at him, paused for a moment, and chuckled. “Yeah yeah, I know Diaz, I’ve always been a bit of a party animal. Not gonna drink this one quiet yet, just needed something to calm my nerves a bit”, she said, holding the beer gently in her lap as she looked down and softly smiled.

“Well, since you’ve been out of the loop so long, I guess you’re gonna want to get the catch-up on everything that’s going on around here, huh?” Marco nodded and took a sip of his drink. Star shifted in her seat to more comfortably face him as she began to unload.

“Alright, well, first off I have to talk about Ponyhead, ok? There’s just so much to unpack there… Well, you may not have heard but Ponyhead and Seahorse totally ended up getting married a few years back! See, I didn’t think she was ever gonna do it, but King Ponyhead apparently pulled her aside and told her that if she didn’t marry someone by the end of that year, she was going to be passed over for the throne and they might even just get rid of the monarchy. So she married Seahorse and they were just livin in the castle in the clouds for a while—Seahorse works as the city’s IT director and Ponyhead was just being Ponyhead, but about a year ago they found out they were having a baby—”

Marco nearly choked on his drink and sputtered “Getouttatown!” he shrieked.

“Oh you think that’s crazy? Listen to this—turn’s out that whatever they do to make that happen, it ended up just getting Seahorse pregnant! Yeah, I know! Crazy right?! I guess male seahorses carry the babies so yeah, he got suuuuper prego and it was driving Ponyhead insane! Apparently he wasn’t that bad compared to some pregnant ladies, but Ponyhead just couldn’t be bothered apparently, so you know what she does?? She opens up a hair salon in downtown EcMon! Apparently that was less stressful for her so she’d just float around and gossip with people and rant about Seahorse for months during the day and still went clubbing at night. Honestly no clue how Seahorse puts up with all of that, I used to scold her all the time, sounded a lot like my mom too, which, ew”, Star shuddered while Marco chuckled, “but yeah, Seahorse had triplets which I thought was gonna totally overwhelm Ponyhead, but actually she spends a ton of time with them! She brings them to the salon, they go clubbing sometimes, I really have no idea how they have fun there but they are part Ponyhead so whatever I guess, but yeah, it’s all of the same drama that you saw back in the day, nothing’s really changed on that front.”

“Holy crap, that’s one crazy update!” Marco laughed, “I still can’t believe that Ponyhead’s a mother! I never let her get closer than a thousand feet around Mariposa back then, remember when Ponyhead gave her a “makeover” and dyed her hair bright pink?!”

“Ohmygosh, yes! Oh man, that was amazing—I mean, yeah totally out of line, but people thought we had a punk-rock baby for weeks until you ended up shaving her head” Star laughed.

“Yeah, well, I remember Mom wasn’t too happy about that, took months for her hair to grow back out” Marco chuckled, shaking his head. “Well, glad they’re happy I guess and having their hands completely full.”

“Well, it’s gonna get even more full because now Ponyhead’s pregnant.”

“No. Way.”

“Yes, way! I don’t know if it something with the moons or the tides or how they do it, but I’m pretty sure Seahorse got his revenge somehow. But yeah she’s due in a couple of months. She still works at the salon but just gripes all the time, so I can only imagine how bad Seahorse has it at home.”

Marco shook his head in bewilderment. “Well, geez, I guess that’s everything I ever wanted to know and more about the Ponyheads…”

“I can’t believe you didn’t know about this. Ponyhead is always blasting and posting stuff online all the time.”

“She’s incessant—I know” Marco laughed. “She’s part of the reason I got off social media in the first place, but you know me Star—I’ve never been much of a tech guy or online social butterfly.”

“That’s right… you never would ‘like’ my pictures online” Star smirked with a teasing eye.

“That’s because I would tell you that I liked them in person. A much better response don’t ya think?” came the snarky retort.

Star chuckled. “Yeah yeah, whatever you say Diaz” as she took a sip and gave him a wink.

“So what else has been happening out here?” Marco asked in between sips.

“Well, compared to Ponyhead everyone else is just super boring. Eclipsa and Globgor have retired from being public servants and now just do history tours at the Monster Castle and do some public outreach stuff for Monsters rights and stuff. Meteora is finishing up high school, doing pretty good on the wrestling team from what Eclipsa tells me. Jackie and Cloe` drop by every so often from France, I think they own some type of outdoor equipment rental place or something? I’m not entirely sure, I know Cloe` comes from money so they’re doing alright. Sensei ended up being the assistant manager at one of those Mewnacho’s joints, and Alfonzo and Ferguson ended up being the night janitors at the high school. Oh, and Janna is about halfway done with her second term as mayor here…She calls me all the time to complain and keeps telling me that she wants to poison the whole city council, but she’s really doing a good job which is why she got elected twice.”

“You know, I should be more surprised at that, but I’m really not” Marco contemplated in between sips. “To be in charge of a bunch of monsters in the human world and to get paid to make the town look weird and different…” Marco chuckled, “I always thought she would’ve ended up being Queen of the Underworld with Tom, but I guess he hasn’t popped that question yet.”

“Yeeeaaaaaaahhhh…” Star lingered, fidgeting slightly in her seat, “I’m pretty sure Tom’s never gonna ask her that question.”

“Huh? Wait. Why do you think that? I mean, I know his sense of time as a demon isn’t all that great, but I thought for sure that they were gonna do their own freaky weird marriage thing.”

“Well, actually, you see, what happened was…” Star fumbled over herself, scratching the back of her neck as her eyes darted around avoiding Marco’s gaze, “…Tom and Janna broke up really badly a couple of months after you left…” she sighed.

“Wait, what?! How?! I…I ju…I was _sure_ they were gonna be together” Marco sputtered as he ran his hand through his hair.

“Yeah, things weren’t going super great for a while leading up to that. I guess Tom and Janna weren’t on the same page on what they wanted for the future, they never were super good at communicating ya know, and yeah, they had a super big fight over a holiday weekend and completely severed ties. Janna still hasn’t talked to Tom to this day.”

“Aw man… that’s… actually really, really sad to hear” Marco muttered. “Janna was Janna, but I always thought they were happiest together, and Tom is a good dude, I was hoping it’d all work out for them… Actually, speaking of Tom, what’s up with him? I haven’t talked to him really since I left.”

“Yeah, Tom is doing pretty good. He got tired of just being the King of the Underworld all the time, wanted to do something other than just be royalty all the time. So, believe it or not, he ended up opening up an architecture firm up here in EcMon! Turns out planning out buildings and constructing them is very therapeutic for him, so he’s been controlling his anger so much better than when he was a teenager. It’s a bit weird though, to be honest. He’s internationally recognized for his architecture and the city contracts him to build a lot of stuff, but Janna won’t talk to him personally so it’s all done either through assistants or legal paperwork that Janna won’t sign if it’s addressed to Tom directly.”

“Huh. Now that you mention it, I have noticed a lot more ‘underworldy’ architecture around here, a lot more spikes, more twisted concrete shapes, shiny black facades, it looks really good! I mean, if you’re into that type of stuff. Good for him!”

“Yeah, he’s been doing pretty well for himself lately” Star softly replied looking out the car window.

“So, what about you Star? What have you been up to? Please tell me that your life has been more dramatic and crazy than Ponyhead’s or Janna’s.”

Star was silent for a moment, still gazing outside the car window watching the falling snow in the light of the streetlight before slowly moving her gaze to her hands in her lap. “Well…after you left I finished university, hopped around a few different jobs here and there, helped Janna with some city work and Eclipsa with her awareness work,” Star said, each phrase getting softer and softer as she continued, “and…well…three years ago I…married Tom…”

Silence. There was no sound, no movement, no breathing. As everything froze around them, the silence was suffocating and overpowering. They sat there and let it all soak in, with only a very soft, weak, “Oh…I see…” pathetic whimper from Marco offering any sort of reprieve for the two of them.

Star stared with hollow eyes at her hands clutching the beer can in-between her legs on her lap, Marco with the same eyes staring blankly out the windshield, which was more than halfway obscured by the falling snow piling up on it. The car itself had grown much darker throughout their conversation as the snow obscured the windshield more and more, long dark shadows casting strongly over their faces and bodies as they both stared in silence.

Marco eventually stirred in his seat, placing his empty beer can on the ground before grabbing another beer himself. This time he took a long, hard drink, cleared his throat, and timidly spoke. “So…how did that happen?...”

Star continued to stare blankly down at her knees for a moment, the suffocating silence beginning to return. Suddenly, the loud * _crack*_ of the opening beer in her hand ruptured the silence as she took a small drink, looking out the increasingly obscured snow-covered windshield.

“Well, Marco” Star sighed, slowly and softly speaking each deliberate word, “after you left and we broke up, everything around here started to break too. Eclipsa and Meteora were on no speaking terms for a while, my parents moved out into the deep mountains after their third retirement from the city government, there were a bunch of protests and some riots about monster and human rights, the city was getting a lot of bad press which was tearing Janna apart because she had just been elected only a year prior. Tom was trying to help her but was dealing with his own underworld issues as well, and they both just got more and more frustrated and angry with themselves, the world around them, and each other. They both would snap constantly at each other—I don’t even know how many burnt rugs Janna replaced in her office. Soon they weren’t speaking to each other at all, and one day Janna told Tom it was over and they were done and Tom might have burnt down an entire wall of spell books and black magic items as he left her office.”

“Wow… So, I guess everything really went down the toilet pretty quickly, huh…”

“It happened over the course of a few months, but yeah, everything was changing pretty fast. I was trying to focus on my work and help out Janna and Eclipsa when I could, but I wasn’t happy and I wasn’t fulfilled. And… I didn’t like being alone anymore Marco. I spent _years_ trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life, and I couldn’t find an answer. I kept hanging out with the old gang, but I had to keep Tom and Janna separate and I couldn’t even talk about either of them with each other for a few years. Eventually things settled down and I was helping Janna run for her reelection campaign after she helped calm down the riots and began reinvesting in a lot of the old monster city” Star continued, taking another sip from her drink. “Tom and I had been hanging out ever since their breakup, and I was also helping him with his architecture business he started shortly after they split. I guess one thing led to another and we ended up back together and we got married.”

“Well, wow, Star I had no idea… That’s really… great… I’m really happy for the two of you” Marco stumbled through. “Tom’s a great guy, he’s sure lucky to have a loving wife like you.”

Star fidgeted with her drink, “Tom is a good man. He’s come a long way from when we were teenagers. He’s successful, thoughtful, and treats me well. The house he built for us is remarkable—it has a bit of both of our personalities and styles in it, it’s kept us warm and safe and dry. We were both there for each other during our worst moments—” Marco squirmed slightly in his seat, “and he’s been such a good friend and emotional support to me…” Star sighed, before softly finishing, “I think that he loves me, but as much as I would like to say that I love him too… I really don’t like to lie…”

Marco stared out into the nearly covered windshield, muffled light and shadows ashening their faces as they sat in muted silence once more. Marco stirred slightly as he placed his hands into his jacket pockets. “You don’t love him…” Marco faintly whispered, ache dripping from his voice.

“Yeah… I never really got that same love feeling that I used to know… you know, back when we were a thing” Star continued softly, casting a wayward side-glance at Marco, “and I’m pretty sure he never got over Janna, or vice versa for that matter.”

“So why did you do it if you didn’t love him?” Marco solemnly asked, turning his head to face Star directly.

Star sighed. “I guess we both were pretty lonely after being by ourselves for a few years… Tom and I always got along pretty well, and we both understood each other’s pain I guess” Star shrugged. “Everything was changing and both of us felt like it was never going to go back to what it once was, so I guess we decided to just weather the change together.”

Marco nodded in mute understanding, a soft “mmhmm” echoing his sentiments. “So… do you guys have any kids yet?” he tentatively asked.

Star chuckled deeply, “Nope! Neither of us really wants to be parents right now, and I don’t think either of us wants to bring a child into a loveless marriage”

“So do you guys still… you know…” Marco awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, his eyebrow cocked.

“Marco, I said it was a loveless marriage, not a _passionless_ one” Star smirked, as Marco’s face contorted between abject horror and a pathetic attempt at smothering a rising blush on his face by clearing his throat a few times.

“Alright alright, fair enough” Marco finally chuckled, “glad to see that life isn’t _all_ that terrible for you” he smirked as he playfully elbowed her arm. Star laughed in feigned shock and hit his arm back with the first playful smile since they had gotten into the car, both of them enjoying the brief moment of levity. Marco looked over at Star as she chortled into her hand, her face beaming with the same happiness and joy that she had demonstrated back inside the store.

Marco sighed happily with a huge smile on his face as he continued to look at Star’s happy face. “Aw man, Star, I’ve missed hearing your laugh. I’d almost forgotten how it sounded!” he rubbed an arm awkwardly, “but I gotta say Star, even after all these years, you still don’t look a day older than when I last saw you.”

“Marco Diaz don’t you dare lie to me!” Star ruefully chuckled. “I appreciate your attempted flattery, but I’m afraid I’m not as young as I once was. I got bags under my eyes, wrinkles on my face, haven’t tried to do a split in years… I’m just not as pretty as I once wa—"

“Stop right there” Marco firmly stated. “Don’t even think that. It’s just not true. You were beautiful then and you’re just as beautiful now…if not more so” he gently and somewhat sheepishly said, placing a hand softly on her knee. “Your eyes are still as blue and vibrant as they ever were, and I’ve honestly missed seeing them” Marco tenderly said, his eyes never leaving Star’s own increasingly astonished gaze. Her eyes were gleaming despite the pale light inside the car, and just enough shadow grazed her face that Marco wasn’t entirely sure if he saw doubt or gratitude in her eyes.

He felt a soft hand place gently on top of his own, as Star softly cooed “Awww, thanks Marco! That was really sweet of you to say”, her hand softly squeezing his own.

“Well Star, I don’t like to lie either, so you know it’s true. You look just as amazing now as you did back then” he said with a soft squeeze on her knee before returning his hand back to his own lap. Marco could see Star was trying hard to suppress her own blush, as she quickly went for another sip and brushed her hair behind her ears.

“Well enough about me!” Star quickly and somewhat abruptly stated, shifting in her seat to face Marco directly, “What have you been up to Marco Ubaldo Diaz? How’s the family?”

“Family? Well, I don’t know if you remember, but my parents moved back to Mexico to be closer to my Dad’s side of the family. Mariposa is at some international school down there, and she’s really smart Star, like waaay smarter than me. I’ve been helping her prep her applications for college, even though she’s only 15.”

“Aw man, really? She’s going to start that young?!? That’s amazing that she’s so smart but isn’t she going to miss out on the fun of being in college?” Star said furrowing her brow. “And how’s Meteroa taking this? I haven’t talked to Eclipsa or her in a while.”

“Oh Mariposa apparently talks to her all the time according to my folks. And yeah she’s gonna miss some of the fun, but she’s planning on taking a lot of courses online first and then go to the actual school when she’s older.”

“Ok, cool. Makes sense I guess” Star said taking a sip. “I didn’t remember your parents had moved to Mexico—I thought they were on some really long vacation or something.”

“Well it started off as that and turned into them deciding to move instead” Marco chuckled. “Makes it harder to see them but I guess that’s what parents do as they get older, kinda like yours from what you were telling me.”

“Yeah yeah, I guess… Wish my folks were closer by though sometimes” she mumbled in between a sip. “Well, guess Diaz family is out of the way. What’s been new with you since you last were here? Ya dating anyone?”

Marco nearly choked on his drink as Star tried to stifle a laugh. “Aw geez that almost went out my nose” groaned Marco.

“I could see that!” Star laughed as she handed him a tissue. Marco sheepishly chuckled and wiped his nose before continuing.

“As far as dating goes, that’s been pretty much non-existent lately. I’ve been on a few dates here and there, but nothing serious and no one striking any interest.”

“Aw man, I was hoping you would have some juicy deets that we could swap!” Star groaned. “Oh well, I guess that makes sense, you must be pretty busy… Actually, what _do_ you do now Marco? I don’t even remember where you went off to in the first place.”

“Well, let’s see” Marco thought scratching his chin, “after I left here I went to New York to take that professor of psychology position, but they let me go after only a few months…something about tenure requirements and overstaffing or whatever. I then got a job as a high school guidance counselor—”

“Oooh! Like Mr. Candle?!”

Marco chuckled, “Yeah, like Mr. Candle but without the ponytail and I actually did my job! Anyway, I took up that job but it wasn’t enough to pay the bills, plus those city kids were pretty ruthless and I wasn’t making a lot of headway with them, so I ended up participating in some dragon-cycle competitions to help make ends meet. The kids found out and thought I was pretty cool for a guidance counselor, so they actually started talking to me a bit which was awesome. I helped this one kid, Brickman, overcome his fear of plaid and get accepted into Brown University, the first kid in his family to go to college! I was really enjoying helping them out, and one day the school did a talent show and anyone could participate, and a bunch of the kids told me to sign up for my dragoncycle skills. Well, instead I ended up doing this whole presentation where I performed some of my martial arts skills while also baking, and ended it all with some simple flying tricks on Nachos as I handed out snacks to some of the kids—”

“Wait, wait, wait” Star held up her hands, shaking her head in disbelief, “so you did karate, cooking, _and_ dragoncycling all in one presentation?!? What the heck did you do?!”

“Well, I used my karate skills to chop a bunch of wood in half to make a table, and then I grabbed some paring knives and I did a bunch of Fruit Ninja nonsense to cut up a bunch of different vegetables into slices. I then brought Nachos over and made some hamburger patties, threw them into the air and Nachos would spit fire and cook it just perfectly as I’d grab it at the last second. After 4 or 5 of those, I hopped onto Nacho’s and flew around the auditorium doing some loops, rolls, and giving hamburgers to some of the students. Everyone loved it—it was so much fun!”

“Heck yeah! It sounds like a blast!” Star beamed, her face getting more animated as the story progressed. “I can see it now, Marco Diaz PhD, safe kid extraordinaire, breaking fire codes and putting tire marks all over the ceiling to show what it really means to be a guidance counselor.”

Marco laughed. “Hey now, I totally got permission from the principle before I did it—it’s not my fault she didn’t realize that dragoncycles breathe fire” he chuckled. “Anyway, turns out that one of the kid’s parents was in the audience and he worked for the city network. He called me up and offered me a job to host a daytime television show. He originally wanted it to follow the traditional daytime line up, but we got into a brainstorming session and we made it into this weird hybrid show where I’d sometimes cook for the audience, sometimes ride Nachos or do something extreme, I did a lot of martial arts and swordsmanship too, and then sometimes I’d pull out the psychology couch and do live psychology with guests or audience members. A lot of times we did a little bit of everything, it got really crazy at times—”

“Hold the phone!” Star suddenly said, putting a fist to her head as she clenched her eyes in deep and struggling thought. “I swear I’ve seen a commercial or something about this just a few days ago… oh what was it…. Think Star, think!... It was like, ‘ _Battle Therapist_ ’ or something…”

“‘ _Warrior Shrink’?_ Yeah, that my new show that’s going to start airing in a few weeks.”

“Wait, what!? That’s _YOU?!?”_ Star screamed with surprise. “I didn’t even recognize you!”

“Yeah, well, makeup will sure do a number on you I guess” Marco chuckled nervously. “They won’t let me do it myself because of some “union” thing, but the producers were adamant in covering up my mole, plus they do all of these weird things with my hair and had me grow out a goatee for half of the season, it was really weird. But yeah, the show did so well in New York that it got picked up on the national circuit. I’m now officially syndicated, so, yeah…” Marco shrugged as he took another sip from his drink.

“Great Corn Almighty Marco! That’s amazing!” Star beamed, “who would’ve thought you would have gone so far from your guest appearance on the Ponyhead show?” she winked as she playfully slugged Marco’s arm again.

Marco laughed and tenderly rubbed his arm which was getting increasingly sore. “Oh gosh that was an awful experience! But ya know, I think it did get me somewhat interested in doing TV work like that, and I’ve really enjoyed it so far.”

“Wow Marco, that’s so awesome” Star smiled, leaning back in her seat and looking at the ceiling of the car. “You must be doing so well right now.”

“Yeah, well, the pay has been really nice and I have a lot of fun doing a bunch of stuff I love. We got a lot of great guests too, and that’s made everything super cool and amazing. The audience and fans though really makes the whole thing worthwhile Star—they’re absolutely heavenly. They’ve been so supportive and engaged for the past few years, and it’s been just crazy how much love I get when I’m out on stage.” He paused to take another small sip. “But ya know, the workload is awful, I rarely have any free time to do anything myself or see people, between all of the writing, script planning, rehearsals, and traveling. Oh my goodness, the traveling sucks soooo much! I can’t ride Nachos and they micromanage everything for me on those trips, and its such a nightmare Star, I just can’t even. It’s literally worse than Hell.”

Star chuckled, “Well, you have been there quite a few times before, so I’ll take your word for it! But that has to be an amazing experience and you get to do all the things you wanted to do. That’s just amazing Marco and I’m so happy for you” she said, her eyes darting slightly between Marco and the drink in her hands.

“Thanks Star, that means a lot” Marco gently said, fidgeting with his own drink as he stared out the passenger window. “Guess a lot has changed hasn’t it…”

“Yeah…” came the soft reply.

For a moment they sat there in silence, the only sound their light breathing. The windshield, completely covered, blanketed them in a muddled orange light from the parking lot light pole. They both sat there, staring out into the abyss and fidgeting softly in their seats as they listened to the silence around them.

“…Marco…” Star slowly started, trying to break the enveloping silence around them, “do you miss the old days?”

“…yeah, of course I do” Marco softly responded, “My life wouldn’t have been the same without everything we went through. The magic, the adventures, the battles…”

“Yeah, but… do you miss… _us_?”

There was a long pause as Marco stared down at his drink, softly swirling it in his hands, his facing slowly but subtly tensing up. “Star…” he sighed, “I’ve been gone so long, and I’ve been so busy with, well, everything I guess, that I’d like to say that I never really thought much about it. But…” he ruefully chuckled, “I don’t like lying much either… Star…” he said turning his head to look at her with a bowed head, “there hasn’t honestly been a day that has gone by that I haven’t thought about you or us…”

“Yeah… me neither…” Star softly replied, her hands firmly gripping her drink **.** “So then… why did you leave?”

Marco sighed. “Star, I’m not entirely sure why we broke up the way we did. There was a lot going on at the time… there was graduate school, you were getting way more involved into city politics and your own schooling, life was super busy and stressful back then, and… I guess we got so focused on what was around us that we—”

“drifted apart…” Star finished, rubbing her leg with her hand. “I guess we kinda took for granted what we already had didn’t we?”

“Yeah, I guess we did… I don’t remember much of those years to be honest, but I do remember everything feeling like we were in a weird funk, that something didn’t seem right” he said leaning back and running a hand through his hair. “I guess we pretended that everything was alright, that we were on the same page, that our core was still good, but…I guess we didn’t maintain what we had…”

Star sighed deeply, shaking a lock of her hair from her face as she did. “I remember we were fighting a lot back then too… for the love of Corn I couldn’t tell you what they were about, but I remember how bad they hurt afterwards…”

“And we never really made up I remember either” reflected Marco. “I remember there were some occasional brief apologies, but even then, there were a lot of times we just never talked about it again—”

“until the end…” Star sadly mused. “Yeah, I do remember that one. That totally sucked.”

“Yeah… yeah it did…” They both sat in silence for a moment before Marco continued. “Star, I’m sorry that it ended the way that it did. I know it’s a couple years too late, but I—”

“No…no Marco…” Star shakily said, holding up a hand, “It’s ok, really. We were both to blame I guess, and it’s just nice to be with you again. Besides,” Star said with a sad grin, “I’d like to think more about all the good times we had.”

“You and me both!” Marco softly grinned. “We sure had a lot of good times—the beach, friendship Thursdays, our sparring matches—”

“getting our taco swag, the family picnics and yard games, photobooths, our late night cereal runs—"

“Our date nights…” Marco smiled widely. “I’m not even ashamed to say it Star, but I’ve never found anyone who was as passionate as you were. No one’s ever even held a candle to the way you got my motor running.”

Star blushed as she pulled back a strand of hair behind her ear and nervously chuckled, “Well, uh, yeah, those were pretty heavy times! Passions of youth and whatnot… but I could say the very same for you too Marco. It’s never really been the same with anyone else.”

Marco pleasantly sighed and leaned back deeply into his chair. “Man Star… we really had something special didn’t we…”

“Yeah, yeah we did…” came a soft but contented reply.

“Too bad we never were really good at talking about our feelings when we were in the thick of things” Marco lightly chuckled.

Star chuckled softly as well, a soft smile on her face. “Yeah, well we often needed someone to tell us to talk about it, and I guess even now we still need that slap across the face.”

“Yeah, we’re pretty dense aren’t we?” Marco laughed. “I still can’t believe it took us almost two years to actually get together in the first place.”

“Hey now, 85% of that was your own fault” Star playfully chided, elbowing Marco once more in his arm.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. Me and my brain overthought a lot of stuff in my life, and caused both of us a lot of heartache” Marco ruefully chuckled, rubbing his surely bruised arm. “But overall, I wouldn’t have traded any of it for the world.”

“Me neither Mr. Marco Diaz, PhD.”

“Well this seems like a perfect time for a toast then!” Marco beamed as he raised his drink and Star followed suit with an equally big smile on her face. “To beloved memories and passions of youth—Auld Lang Syne!”

They clinked but Star’s faced furrowed slightly. “Auld Lang Syne? What the heck does that mean? Is that a Spanish phrase?”

“Not Spanish—Old Scottish” Marco chuckled as he wiped his mouth from the last bit of his finished drink. “It’s roughly translated as “to times long past” or “long, long ago”. People used to say it around New Years to reflect upon the past year and their lives, but then to look hopefully for a brighter future the next year.”

“Oooohhh, gotcha… so it’s like another way of saying ‘Live Fast, the Stump’s Coming Back?’”

Marco chuckled, “Yeah, exactly right Star.”

Star, pleased at making another successful Earth reference connection, finished off her beer with a deep refreshing sigh as they both sat there with goofy smiles on their faces. Marco chuckled as he stirred in his seat before looking back over to the still goofily smiling Star, “Have you really never heard of the _Auld Lang Syne_ song? I swear we used to sing it every New Year’s Eve.”

“To be fair Marco, I don’t really remember a lot of my New Year’s Eves” Star lightly chuckled as she tossed the empty beer can into the back seats.

“Well then”, Marco chuckled as he reached into his pocket, “let me pull up the lyrics—I’m sure you’ll remember it once you hear it.”

After about thirty seconds, Marco had pulled up the Wikipedia article on “Auld Lang Syne” and leaned over to Star so she could look at the lyrics as well. They both skimmed the lyrics as Marco softly sang the melody.

_Should Old Acquaintance be forgot,_   
_and never thought upon;_   
_The flames of Love extinguished,_   
_and fully past and gone:_   
_Is thy sweet Heart now grown so cold,_   
_that loving Breast of thine;_   
_That thou canst never once reflect_   
_On old long syne._

_On old long syne my Dear,_   
_On old long syne,_   
_That thou canst never once reflect,_   
_On old long syne ._

Star’s faced remained puzzled, but recognition slowly began to dawn across her face as Marco sang more and more of the melody. “Oooooohhh, yeah yeah, that does sound strangely familiar Marco” she mused. “Don’t recognize the words for the life of me, but the tune sounds somewhat familiar.”

“It’s definitely a song only sung on one day a year, so it’s hard to remember for sure. Still a nice tradition though. Although,” he said drawing his eyes more intently back on the lyrics protruding brightly on the backlit screen, “I never really understood the lyrics all that well… Until now, I guess” he softly shrugged.

Star remained silent as her hand gripped over Marco’s as she repositioned the phone better for her to see, her eyes slowly tracing over the lyrics as well. Her puzzled expression slowly started to melt into a calm reflection, her smile turning all the more sad as she read on. She looked up to see Marco’s same sad smile and slightly drooped head staring back at her. “Yeah… I think this is a good way to sum up this whole crazy evening” Star slowly said, her hand still softly caressing his. They continued to softly stare into each other’s eyes, oblivious to the now dark cell-phone and the slightly tightening grip of their hands.

Suddenly a loud _PING_ and a buzz went off, startling both of them out of their trance for a second as Star released her hand and pulled out her own phone. She stared at it for a second, and started to type quickly as she spoke, “Hey, Marco. I really don’t want to cut this short but I gotta go. Tom’s wondering where I am and when I’ll be home.”

“Aw geez, has he been wondering where you’ve been this whole time?!” Marco said rubbing a hand through his hair. “I’ve completely lost track of time—I don’t even know what time it is.”

“Well,” said Star pointing a thumb behind her, “store’s closed so that means we’ve been here a while” Marco turned to see the once bright lights of the inside of the store were now completely dark, only the outside neon sign of the store shedding any light to the empty parking lot. “And no, Tom’s knows that I’ve been busy with something. When we got to the car I told him I had met up with an old friend and would be a while. He just wanted to know how much longer I’d be. I guess it’s not very nice to leave my husband alone on Christumpmas Eve” she sighed folding her arms and sinking back into her seat.

“Yeah, well, that makes sense” Marco nervously chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck for a bit before turning back towards Star. “In that case I won’t be keeping you any longer. It’s was a pleasure to catch back up Star Butterfly” he said with a soft smile, extending a hand.

Star wryly smiled with a slightly cocked eyebrow as she took his hand firmly, “Indeed it was Marco Diaz. We should visit more often when you’re in town” she said with a slightly mocking royal accent.

“Well I’m actually here in town for the next couple of weeks for my holiday break—I’d love to meet again if you’re free” he said, still firmly shaking her hand.

“Actually, I’m throwing a Christumpmas party tomorrow night with some of my local friends if, uh, you’d be interested in coming of course.”

“I’d love that Star, if, uh, you and Tom are ok with me crashing your party” he nervously chuckled.

“Oh don’t worry about Tom—he’d be ecstatic to see you again! Time doesn’t mean much to demons, as he keeps telling me, so he probably doesn’t even realize how much time has passed.”

“Well then I’d love to come! Where do you live?”

“Well if you let go of my hand, I can text you the address” Star wryly grinned as Marco looked down to see that he had yet to let go of his firm handshake. He immediately released and recoiled his hand back, before letting out a soft sheepish “M’sorry” to a still chuckling Star who pulled out her phone and started typing her address into the message. Marco could see her type Marco into the contact bar, but nothing came up. Star’s face showed surprise as she typed in “Diaz” with no luck. Confusion and frustration quickly set into her face as “PhD”, “Yammy”, “Squire”, and a few others brought up no results. Star turned to Marco with a sheepish chuckle as she rubbed her arm, “Well, uh, looks like I lost your number when I got this new phone… technology, right?”

Marco smiled softly and chuckled, “Don’t worry Star, it’s all good. I’ve been out of the loop for far too long, so it’s not a problem. I’ll send you a text from my phone” he said pulling out his own phone. A similar shock appeared in his eyes as “Star” brought no results in his contact list. After his own attempts of “Princess”, “MiLady”, and “Lover” turned up with no results, he sheepishly chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck, “Well, guess we’ve both lost each other’s numbers with our new phones… technology sure is something else…”

“Guess that explains why neither of us got a call from the other huh?”

“Yeah… guess so…”

They handed each other their phones and typed in their numbers and sent each other a text with the other’s name, and Star sent her address as well. They confirmed that they both got the messages and Marco put the phone in his pocket as he leaned over and opened the door. “Alright, guess I’ll let you go then. I’ll see you tomorrow—Wow! Star it snowed a lot while we were sitting here. There’s gotta be at least two inches on your windscreen!” Marco noted as he crooked his head to look at the snow amassed on the windscreen.

“Oh wow, really!?” Star exclaimed through the open door, “That’s a heckuva lot for how short of a time we’ve been here. Stand back, I’m going to wipe it off with the wipers.”

“Wait Star—” Marco intervened, “That’s not good on the motors or the wipers, they’re not supposed to move heavy snow like this. I’ll brush it off real quick.”

“Marco you don’t hav—“ Star started but was cut off as Marco closed the door and started to use the forearm of his leather jacket to push and wipe the snow off the windshield. Star stared for a moment before silently chuckling and sitting back to watch Marco lean over the passenger side half of the car trying to clear as much snow as he could, brushing off the top of the car as well before switching to the drivers side and doing the same thing. A minute later and the windshield and roof were clear. Marco shook the snow clinging onto his forearm as Star rolled down her window.

“Well thanks Marco. That was very sweet of you.”

“No problem Star—anything for a friend” he smiled. Star smiled back at him but Marco noticed that her eyes were wavering and a slight tremble was forming on her smile when she suddenly threw both arms out of the car window.

“Marco getoverhere—I need a goodbye hug” she firmly beckoned with both her voice and hands.

Marco smiled and walked over to Star’s car, putting his head and shoulders through the window as both him and Star latched onto each other tightly and buried their heads into each other’s necks. They swayed softly for a moment, neither hardly breathing and firmly holding onto each other. Too soon, Marco felt a double pat on his shoulder and he relaxed his grip as he slowly started to back out. Star’s left arm was pulling back from his shoulder as well, gliding down his face until her hand stopped on his jawline. Marco stopped pulling and stood there as Star cradled his face in her palm and he reached up and cradled her hand with his. Both of them were smiling deeply as they stared into each others eyes. This time Marco removed his hand, and Star’s slowly began to fall too, but not before grabbing his chin and with forceful grace, pulled it to the side as Star quickly leaned up and kissed Marco on the cheek. No sooner had it happened did Star release her hand and Marco instinctively stepped back and brought his hand to his cheek at the same time. Star, with a deep sad smile, did a small wave as she started to pull away from Marco. “Good night Marco—see you tomorrow” as the window rolled up and the car drove away.

Marco, still holding his face and having a dumbstruck look smeared over his whole body watched Star’s car pull through the white snowy parking lot and pull into the empty street to quickly disappear into the dark snowy night. A grin slowly turned into a large smile as he turned and walked towards his snow-covered motorcycle, his hand still rubbing his cheek. But as he cleared the snow and got the motorcycle started, the snow that had been unceasingly falling all that evening had slowly turned into a light freezing rain—and synchronized with the nearly imperceptible shift in the weather, Marco’s smile had faded away into a deep sad frown. Marco started his motorcycle with a single kick, it roared to life, and Marco started to drive away from the empty parking lot in the opposite direction that Star had went, the sound of the softly falling rain onto the snow enveloping the expanding darkness as he rode home alone…

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

Star drove down the empty street with her arms fully extended, not daring even now to look back in the mirror. Breathing slowly but heavily, she glanced left and right for a building or place to pull into— _There!_ She thought—a bank with a drive-thru overhang that faced away from the street. Star quickly turned into the empty parking lot, not using her signal, and pulled into the overhang of the bank’s drive thru. The lights in the bank and overhang were completely out, and as soon as Star pulled in, she parked the car, turned off the headlights, and leaned backed in her seat with eyes fiercely shut.

She breathed. And then the tears started to freely fall.

She laid back in that seat in silence, the white noise of the engine and the heater fan offering another layer of seclusion she desperately needed as tears rolled down her face unabated. She sat there hugging herself amidst the intermittent short gasps and soft moans as her tears flowed down her face. Star had no idea how long she wept before she began to think.

_Dammit Marco Diaz—why do you keep breaking my heart?_

Tears continued to freely flow over her cheeks, her hand wiping away a dripping nose.

 _I was doing just fine, JUST FINE, thank you before this evening. All I wanted was some frickin corn for Mewni’s sake, and out of the blue you just show up completely unannounced and surprise me, and this time I didn’t have any royal guards to take you out like last time!_ She choked a small chuckle amidst her soft sobs as she recalled the one time Marco had dropped in unannounced in her Palace Chambers before getting bumrushed by the royal guards.

 _Oh Corn Marco Diaz, you always show up at the wrong time and in the wrong place when you’re not thinking straight… it was so much simpler back when we were kids—I’d blast stuff with my magic wand and you’d back me up with Karate. Things were so fun back then, when all we had to worry about was whatever stupid plan Ludo had for that day_ Star sniffed and rub her arm across her nose. _Before everything changed… before my wand broke, before I lost the book of spells and Glossyrck, before Eclipsa, before giving up the throne, before destroying the magic, before… we…_ Star grimaced and pulled herself tighter as more fresh tears squeezed from her eyes _…stopped being best friends…_

Star mumbled a curse out loud between her soft sobs, _How did it all go so wrong!? What happened to us Marco?? Why…Why did you leave me alone???_

Star cried as she tighten into an ever increasingly pronounced fetal position, her soft gasps and breaths the only discernable noise in her mind. She wanted to be held, but there was no one around to hold her, and Tom could not see her like this. But slowly she began to relax her grip on her body as her tears began to slow and dry. There was a point that was beyond tears, and she had reached it yet again, as she had already so many times in her life. And once again, Marco was a core reason for her grief and misery. Her breaths began to slow and deepen, and while her eyes remained closed, she could feel her face relaxing. She wiped her face with her sleeves as she laid back in her seat facing the ceiling.

 _Oh Star… where did it all go wrong? What happened to us? What did you do to drive him away from you?_ She wondered. _Were you too clingy? No, we’ve talked about this at length Star, you show your love best through physical connections and spending time with people, and Marco loved that. He always did. Otherwise he would’ve left after the first week you moved in…_

 _I guess while we’re here we should bring out all the things you’ve been thinking about since he left… Were you too focused on your work? Perhaps, but you and Marco were nearly always in sync, and he often made his goals align with yours. Maybe that’s part of the reason he left… but that can’t be right either—he was in the process of applying to that university an hour away, and you both talked about working on the civic platform together…_ Star continued to reflect, her mind racing over potential reasons and scenarios over and over again.

 _I still for the life of me don’t know why we drifted apart… I know for the whole year leading up to it that we weren’t doing as hot as we used to. We were getting more busy with life, I remember that. Mom was always telling me to slow down but I just couldn’t stop… I remember how stagnant our relationship felt—we weren’t always doing that young couple stuff that all of our friends gave us grief for. What did they call us again? Oh yeah, Starco! That was a catchy name_ She smiled. _Still, I remember we went for days without talking to each other, then towards the end it was like a week or two. We didn’t do a lot of fun dates or stuff anymore either… I remember we skipped so many Friendship Thursdays because of projects and deadlines… I guess we didn’t even keep up the intimacy either during that time… I remember Marco was too busy for snuggles or didn’t return my texts for hours on end. And when we kissed, I remember it was quicker and less passionate each time… though I can’t blame him solely for that cause I was doing the same thing too I suppose… Didn’t I turn Marco down on that weekend trip because of something? Oh what was that… was it that weekend of the rally? What a waste that was—it rained the whole time and the entire event got cancelled because of improper permits… I should’ve gone with him on that weekend… I’m not sure if it would’ve saved us but it would’ve at least been a nice break from what was going on…_

 _And then there was that night… _Star shuddered at the thought.

_I still don’t know why he wanted to take that job… I was totally lying when I told him I didn’t remember where he left too—of course I remembered! How could I forget the event that broke our relationship?!? Why would he abandon me for a full year like that? I told him that I needed him here because of all the protests and monster violence that was happening, that I needed his support!... didn’t I?... maybe I didn’t… or at least didn’t explain it clearly enough… I remember feeling so hurt, so angry… I don’t remember what I said to him, and I don’t remember what he said to me. Or yelled. There was so much yelling we both did that night… But that door slam… watching his headlights drift down the street… I think I cried for an hour after he left…_

_And did we talk about it after that? No Star, you idiot, you didn’t. I don’t even remember if you sent him a text or a note or anything. And even though you had that fight a few days before he left, you didn’t see him off at the airport… You didn’t say goodbye… You couldn’t believe that he was actually gone... And that you were alone… again…_

Star rubbed her face and threw an arm over her eyes. _Uuuuuuuugggggghhhhh… why didn’t we talk about this back then?? Why didn’t we bring it up before that night?..._

_…Cause neither of you were good with talking about your mutual feelings towards each other, ya Numbskull…_

_Janna was right, we really did take our friendship for granted and let our physical intimacy do most of the talking for us… For someone who really dislikes relationships she’s always been incredibly perceptive… But we were getting much better though compared to our early relationship! I know that—we actually talked a lot more about “us” and boundaries and comfort zones and our futures… Oh Corn we were so awkward back then… especially Marco… It took foooorrrrreeeeevvvveeeerrr to get him to just admit that he wanted to go further intimately. That was almost as bad as waiting for him to tell me that he loved me!_

_...loved me… past tense… yeah… where did that all go…._

She began to remember the Pig-Goat Barn… the rough leathery touch of the pig-goats, the smell of the hay, the increasing rush of her heart as that dork Marco stumbled through his feelings, the soft smooth touch of his lips, his gentle embrace, the warm feel of her hand cradling his cheek, not unlike the same feeling just moments ago…

_Do you still love him?_

_Wait, what? Where did that come from? Of course I can’t love him—I’m a married woman! Tom’s been too good and kind to me, and I haven’t seen Marco in years. Why would I love an old ex that I haven’t seen in like, forever? Plus the jerk didn’t contact me or anyone else for almost a decade! Well, neither did I but that’s irrelevant. No, of course I don’t love him. It’s just been a really emotional evening that’s all. Lot of pent up emotions, the need for some closure, oh thank Mewni for that car hug I desperately needed that… I mean I gave him a quick peck on the cheek but that’s nothing! Just some friendly affectionate way to show an old friend you… care… about them…… and oh yeah it’s the holidays! So I’m just stressed and hungry and all out of wits! That’s all it is. Yeah, that’s right! Explains everything. Makes perfect sense. Like I still love Marco, psh! No way Jose…_

_No way…_

_…no……_

_……oh no………_

Star’s eyes flew opened wide as she stared in the darkness at her car ceiling. She felt warm, though it wasn’t the car heater, and her face began to burn as the internal latent heat flowed its way down her entire body. Star bit her lip as she continued to stare, loosening up her jacket as the realization burned deeper and deeper into her mind and heart.

 _Oh Star……you never make relationships easy do you?... For the love of Corn, what are you going to do now? You’re a married woman and you just invited your old flame into your home for a holiday party… What could possibly go wrong?!?_ Star groaned and facepalmed herself.

_You never make relationships easy do ya… well maybe he won’t come tomorrow and crisis adverted! Oh who are you kidding of course he’s going to come. Remember how happy and excited he was to see you? He’s not going to miss this chance. Maybe he’ll just spend the evening catching up with Tom---oh shoot, Tom! That’s right, he doesn’t know yet! I gotta tell him tonight when I get home, if he’s still awake at this hour. Who am I kidding, he’s always awake… I don’t think he’ll be mad about Marco coming over, if he is, it’s better to tell him the night prior than a few minutes before he arrives. Tom has no perception of time so he “should” be good to go I think… Oh and Janna will be there too! I totally forgot that… I have to keep her and Tom away from each other, and that shouldn’t be a problem with Marco, but wait—shoot—he’s probably going to try and talk to both of them at the same time… Hopefully he remembered what we talked about and I can just rotate them out and avoid a blowup disaster… a bit dicey but perhaps doable… But way to go Star… you’ve single handedly made your entire life completely chaotic and weird and wild all over again…_

Star sighed and slowly rose her seat up. She pulled out her phone and sent Tom another text—“ _Still on my way home, had to make a quick pit stop, be home soon”_ before putting it down in the cupholder and fastening her seatbelt. As she turned on the headlights and began pulling out of the drive-thru, she turned on her wipers as she noticed that the snow had turned into a light rain and actually a lot of the snow was being washed away. _So much for our white Christumpmas…_ she thought and sighed again. _But regardless… it was really, really good to see Marco again, and when he comes tomorrow it will be a lot of fun and exciting and just like old times! And believe me, this time,_ she gripped the steering wheel tight and her eyes steeled. _I am going to make sure we resolve our past and can move forward… together…_

_…I’m not letting you go again Marco Diaz. Not this time…_

As she drove away along that empty road, the clouds began to ever so slightly break up as the rain slowly drizzled out. And to anyone who might have been looking at the night sky that Christumpmas Eve, not a reindeer or a root would be seen, but rather a red waning crescent moon.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rain was freezing cold, especially on a steel motorcycle in the middle of winter. Marco didn’t even feel it though. His helmet and gloves were still locked under his seat, and his sopping wet hair nearly covered his eyes. But Marco didn’t care, he barely even knew what was happening. All that he felt that was the smooth reverberations of the bike throughout his body, and the deafening silence that came as with the wind and the engine roaring in his ears. He wasn’t going fast, especially not on a night like tonight—the roads were bound to turn into thick black ice any second, and he was in no rush to get home either. Speed wasn’t needed. Marco just wanted to think…

_Star…_

This was the only thought he could muster the courage or energy to think about. He didn’t know when he started or how long he had been thinking it, but her name rang throughout his entire being. Even the vibrations of the motorcycle or the bitter rain and wind in his face couldn’t distract him from the seemingly infinite reverberations that echoed throughout his being as he said her name over and over again.

_Star…_

He pulled up to a stoplight and put his foot down to steady his bike. He was glad that it was dark and late and no one was around. It meant that no one could see the tears running freely down his cheeks, though had someone pulled up next to him they might’ve just thought it was the rain. His breath made small uneven clouds of steam as he sat there at the light. His fists tightly clenched the handlebars, seemingly unaware of the icy cold rain that fell on them.

_Star…_

There was a slight gasp and a choke on that one, as the word nearly slipped from his lips. As he looked down on the ground, he saw the reflection of the light on his motorcycle switch from red to green. With a mere half a glance either way, the motorcycle slowly began moving down the empty street once more.

Marco blurredly stared off into the distance as streetlight after streetlight flashed over his silhouette. He appeared to be aimless, but was mechanically and subconsciously steering himself back to his apartment. Though barely cognizant of it, he was subconsciously grateful that he had the roads empty to himself—not only was it much safer but he also could just be alone, which is what he wanted more than anything right now.

He pulled up to the garage door, the proximity key in his motorcycle automatically triggering the door as it began to open. Marco pulled into the garage, turned off the motorcycle, parked it, quickly got off, and went into the house shutting the garage door behind him. Nachos stood there in confused silence, since Marco hadn’t seemed to even recognize that she was there and left in a hurry. She snorted with bemusement and returned to her curled up position on her mat. Marco, meanwhile, had robotically emptied his pockets and threw his keys in his key bowl, and continued to robotically remove his jacket and hang it up in the closet. He got as far as the kitchen before he suddenly pounded both fists onto the counter with full force, a deep and painful yell slicing out of his throat and pummeling the dark silence within the apartment.

He banged his fists a few more times before a different stifled scream came out of his mouth. He quickly placed both fisted hands under his armpits for a second and muffled a string of curse words before he elbowed the light switched and slowly pulled out his hands. They were dark purple, and Marco thought there were some white flecks as well on his fingers. “Holy Hell that hurts…” he muttered as his hands throbbed. He slowly started to open and close his hands with some pain as he turned on the cold and hot water taps, though the hot water ever so slightly. Placing his hands under the water, Marco was surprised at how warm the cold water felt, and spent the next couple of minutes slowly warming up his hands to hotter temperatures. Marco was glad for the immediate distraction. As his hands warmed, his head started to drip and he realized that his hair had nearly frozen as well, and his body began to shiver. Shutting off the sink, he went to the bathroom where he removed all his wet clothes (his socks being completely soaked through from the ride home) and got into a warm shower. Careful not to shock his body with too hot of temperature, he was slowly warming up his whole body like he did his hands. It wasn’t long though before the water was hot and Marco felt warmth returning to his whole body.

 _Star…_ the thought returned as if it had never stopped, and Marco instinctively reached out and touched his right cheek, cradling it softly as the thought slowly began to manifest itself into words…

S _tar_ …

St _ar_ …

Sta _r_ …

Star…

Marco slumped onto the floor of the shower and slowly began to curl himself up into a ball as he repeated her name over and over again. “Star… Star…Star…” his strong tears immediately being washed away from the poring hot water above him. He sat there and cried a good hard cry—he needed that. He had been holding it pretty much ever since their first hug in the freezer aisle. That first cry was one of overwhelming emotion neither could hide. This one though… this was a hurt cry…a type of cry he had done countless times before, _and one I’m pretty good at hiding too_ he mused. _Just like how I hid my feelings for Jackie, that whole squire year with Star…after Star…_

 _Thankgoodness for this shower—I’m a hot mess right now_ he thought as he choked and moaned under the water, wiping his nose with his arm every so often. _I haven’t felt this way in a long, long time… … I don’t think I’ve felt this sad since we split up……_

Marco hiccupped a sigh as he began to slow down his breathing and stopped trying to squeeze tears from his eyes. The water flowed over him and surrounded him with warmth as he remained frozen in his knees to chest position on the shower floor. As his heart and breathing slowed, his mind began to allow more thought through.

 _Ok, so, first off, wow. That was something. Also, I can’t believe I ran into Star again! What are the odds of that happening? I don’t even know… not high, but dumb luck perhaps? Either way, it doesn’t matter Diaz—it was amazing to just see her again! Man… she hasn’t changed really at all has she… I mean, I guess she’s a bit more mature but that’s to be expected as we get older. Speaking of older, she still looks amazing—I know she doesn’t like that royal blood stuff but man her genes are still cookin! She looked great, and her eyes—they’re still sharp and blue like they always were…I remember that was the first thing I noticed about Star, well, after getting used to her setting fire to everything and blowing up my room_ Marco chuckled as he wiped his nose with his arm.

_Man, Diaz… what a night… So much has changed since you’ve been gone. Janna the Mayor? I can only imagine her poor aides… that’s gotta be hell… and speaking of hell, Tom and Star!?! I was positive that Tom and Janna would finally tie the knot… They were so perfect for each other in their own weird way. But… I guess we were too, or at least that’s what people thought, and look what happened to us…_

_What did happen to us?? For the life of me I really don’t know—and before you come out here Mr. PhD I already know what you’re gonna say. We’ve analyzed this over and over again, filled up countless journals worth of notes… if we keep talking about this, we might literally be insane and then I’d really have to go and see a shrink…_

_But man Diaz, what went wrong? Intimacy was suffering for a time, but you know that was a symptom of a larger cause. Did you both take for granted the apparent strength of the relationship? Were we too driven with our jobs and other passions that we failed to make time for ourselves? Did we focus to much on helping other people that we didn’t help ourselves?? Did… I drive her away?......_

_Why did I ever take the job? Why didn’t I go back when the position closed and I was back at square one? Why did I cut myself off from all of them?..._

_I… I guess it’s because I was hurt and angry… Star and I hadn’t been on speaking terms for weeks at a time. She was always too busy to hang out or do anything, and she kept turning down my weekend trips and getaway plans… though I can’t necessarily blame her—she was doing some important public service work, and after the first couple of rejections I started to reject her offers as well. I mean I was busy too, it wasn’t like I was trying to be a jerk or anything. If she was busy I wasn’t going to stand idly by and wait for her, so I kept working on my own stuff and applying for universities. I was planning on going to the university not too far away from town, but then the offer came. Of course I felt under-qualified for it… but I thought it would be a great opportunity and a chance to grow. Star didn’t seem to care one way or another, although I really could’ve used her support… and I thought maybe some space would help us out, since we were either ignoring each other or constantly bickering the few times we were around. How was I supposed to know she would be upset with me leaving for a year? We barely talked and I told her I would still take weekends and holidays off to fly home—that’s not cheap mind you. So I don’t know why she got all angry with me about ‘abandonment’ and whatever else she was yelling at me. She obviously didn’t need me when I was there, why would she care if we took a small break? It’s not like we wouldn’t have been away from each other any more than we already were…_

_I don’t know why I didn’t just talk to her about it… Not just about the offer but our whole relationship by that point… I hoped maybe me acting like she did would shock her into going back to her old self or at least talking about it, but I guess we both just got used to us being more and more removed until it was too late… And I did “try” and bring it up with her early on, but I never was good at brining up my feelings when I wasn’t being force fed an opportunity to do so. That’s the only reason the Photo Booth and the Barn worked as well as they did, otherwise I’d’ve kept silent and hurting like I always did… And I guess… that when the job fell through I couldn’t bring myself to go back and say I was wrong or that I wasn’t good enough, so I just kept struggling to prove a point I guess… and I hadn’t been talking to my friends much leading up to that day, and no one ever reached out to me first, so I didn’t see a reason to reach out to them…_

_Corn Almighty, what a frickin’ idiot I am! Wait a second, did I just say Corn? I haven’t used that in years, Star’s already rubbing off on me pretty quick… Geez Louise that woman… she sure knows how to change a life… and she KISSED me! What the hell was that all about?!? That wasn’t a goodbye forever kiss, especially since I’m seeing her tomorrow, which… oh dear, that’s a whole ‘nother monster to deal with… but, wait, Tom’s going to be there tomorrow! Holy crap, what’s that going to be like?? Is he going to be mad I haven’t talked to him in years? Does he even know that we met today? I don’t think Star’s gonna tell him about the cheek kiss, nor am I. Unlike last time, this is definitely more explainable and less scandalous. Completely harmless!_

_So… why can’t I get the feel and the sensation out of my head… and why do I keep cradling it…_

As the hot water flowed over him, Marco’s thoughts began to wander and the touch of his hand on his cheek stirred memories back to his recollection. He remembered his mother holding his head as he cried into her lap as a small child. His father gently grabbing his face and looking at him with loving eyes as he wiped tears from his face. Queen Moon softly holding his cheek and tenderly kissing on his forehead as a young Marco left Mewni for what felt like the final time. And then there was the Barn with Star… How tender, soft, and gentle her hand on his cheek was, and how chaste and perfect that kiss, that whole _moment_ felt.

His mind flooded with memories of him and Star together, as if he was rewatching his life again in the time-room. The countless good times, the bad times, the battles, the fights, the long lonely nights, the warm cozy snuggles and daydreams. Each memory played out in his mind, his heart skipping multiple beats as key memories played themselves out and Marco began to unwind himself from his fetal position as a smile slowly grew on his face. As he recounted once again all of the adventures, physical and emotional, he had with Star, his whole body warmed and glowed.

 _I haven’t felt this way since I was back in school…_ the Barn scene replaying once more in his brain. _What an amazing experience that was…_

“ _When it comes to making yourself miserable, you are the Master, bro”_ suddenly came Tad’s voice from the deeper recesses of his thoughts. Marco jolted, the memory of the shock, fear, and sinking realization he felt at the time becoming ever more present and pertinent in his own heart. He stared blankly at the floor, feeling the water run down his head and back. A small grin began to form, and a soft, rueful deep chuckle rumbled through his chest as he slowly shook his head.

_Oh boy Marco Diaz… you’ve really gotten yourself into one fine mess this time… For as much as we talked tonight, we really didn’t hit a lot of the stuff we both needed to talk about. I can’t let that happen again—hell or high water we need to get some closure on our past and mend our friendship. I used to think that I couldn’t live a life without Star in it, and I can’t believe I lived without her for as long as I have… and… I nearly completely forgot about her… how that was even possible, and how I lived like I never knew her… it’s beyond me… I thought I was happy with my new life, but now… I see that I was just trying to fill an empty hole…_

Marco sighed, _Well,_ he thought slowly standing himself up, _regardless of what has happened, I need to see Star tomorrow_ , turning off the shower and drying himself off. _I have to talk to her about what happened between us_ he resolved in-between the strokes of his toothbrush. _I have to tell her how I feel, how I need our friendship back in my life_ as he slipped into his pajamas. _I got to get Star back into my life…and I got to be honest about how I feel…_ he mused as Marco got into bed and laid his head on his pillow, eye mask covering his face.

 _But… she said she didn’t love him… she doesn’t love Tom… man, now that rings a bell _he sadly chuckled into his pillow. _That’s really sad to hear… but I suppose it’s nothing new and not that surprising either… If only Star wasn’t a married woman… oh man, if I could just go back and change that one decision… maybe… maybe things would’ve been different…_

 _Maybe they can_ _be different…_

As Marco drifted off to sleep, the evening with Star playing over and over in his head and her name echoing in his soul—if one could’ve seen Marco’s room at that moment, they would’ve seen one blind slightly askew, allowing a sliver of red moonlight to gently rest upon him.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fan-fic that I have written, and it was a great experience and practice to be able to write this story. While it may not seem like it at times, I'm a big Starco fan, but I do love my fair share of emotional/romantic angst as well. Hopefully no one will feel too betrayed or hurt from the lack of StarTom connections, as the show made it incredibly clear that while Tom and Star could be great friends, they could never be a romantic couple due to their own personal incompatibilities and how they treat and view each other as romantic partners. Not all friendships or relationships are made equal, but nearly all are fascinating to explore. 
> 
> This story is based on the horrible idea that somehow the perfect couple drifted apart, and unfortunately it's one that I suspect a lot of people probably know of a "perfect couple" that tragically broke up for a myriad of reasons. I tried to make it as realistic as possible, since real life emotions are complicated, messy, and we don't always react as well as we'd like or as confidently as a fan-fic writer might make us.
> 
> No plans on making this a series, but I do hope that by the end of the story you understand the direction and eventual end outcome that the story will end. #starcoforever
> 
> Thank you for reading my work and indulging me in my creative journey!


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